Prof. Taiyewo Moses Kolawole

Prof. Taiyewo Moses Kolawole

Prof. Taiyewo Moses Kolawole, a renowned Professor of Radiology, was born in the defunct Western Region on August 5, 1937.

He received his Radiological Training at the Welsh National School of Medicine under Professor K. T. Evans from 1966 to 1970, obtaining the DMRD and F. F. R.

He had the distinction of being the first Nigerian to obtain the FFR in radiodiagnosis. He then returned to Nigeria where he joined the staff of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, where he rose rapidly from the position of a Research Fellow to Professor of Radiology.

He remained on the staff of the University of Ibadan and the UCH Ibadan until 1985, when he joined the King Saud University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the various clinical meetings and presentations in the U.C.H. his stimulating contributions on the radiological aspects of cases, delivered succinctly in a loud and confident voice, brought radiology from a relatively unknown specialty to being one of the most sought after careers among the young doctors.

Clinical radiology remains one of the most popular specialties among Nigerian doctors today.
Prof. Kolawole, like most of his contemporaries, trained as a general radiologist, but early in his career the sub-specialty of neuroradiology fascinated him. He went to the University of Western Ontario to undertake a Fellowship in neuroradiology in 1977, and it was on this subspecialty that he concentrated in his later working life.

As a practicing radiologist, he was most energetic, thorough and dependable. His skill and confidence in the performance of invasive radiological procedures was admirable. If he were to train now he would probably have become an interventional radiologist.

At least as important to him as the practice of radiology was his research and teaching, with over a hundred published papers to his name at the time of his death. It was not a surprise, therefore, that he was invited to join the editorial boards of radiology journals.

He was the Chief Editor of the West African Journal of Radiology from 1980-85 and Editor of Diagnostic Imaging published in Netherlands from 1978-1984. His many students will attest to his skills as a teacher, and he tutored many colleagues in the technique of writing scientific papers, thus helping them climb the academic ladder.

In addition to clinical and academic excellence, Prof. Kolawole was also an astute administrator. He was at various times Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Dentistry at Ibadan; Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee and Director of Clinical Training of the U.C.H.; President, Association of Radiologists of West Africa; President, Faculty of Radiology of the West African College of Surgeons;

Chairman of the Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh and Chairman of various bodies, associations and committees too numerous to list.

He served on W.H.O. courses as well.

Prof. Taiyewo was a devoted husband. He was an attentive and loving father, and was most generous to his larger family, friends and the community at large. He passed on to the great beyond on Dec. 12, 2000.